The King, The Priest, and The Shade
by LordofNothing1
Summary: It has been a long time since a king has gone to the Greek Underworld, however this king is different from all of the rest. When the prisoner escapes with four other spirits, Nico di Angelo must lead a quest to a different world in order to return the escapees to the Underworld. Rated T for minor language and paranoia on my part. M / m. Some F / f.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The King in The Underworld

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or The Inheritance Cycle.**

Mist poured off of the green river as the ferryman poled the boat across. On the boat were several figures, most of them in suits and ties, or dresses, the clothes they had been buried in. One of them however, was dressed in a black tunic and a pair of trousers, a long, leathery, red cape flowed elegantly from his shoulders. On his head, a circle of red gold set with gems sat in short black hair.

Once, this man had been the mighty king who had ruled the Broddring Empire, the master of a grand army hundreds of thousands strong. Now he sat in a boat with other, less wealthy individuals.

Albeit, he was at first confused when, after the battle that had ended his life, he had woken up in an unfamiliar place. It was, he had to admit, a grandly impressive place. It was lit by what he assumed was magic. Several large glass windows showed a strange vista of a smooth, unbroken strip of black rock, with several large machines passing along it.

The king slowly turned, seeing that there was a large, sumptuous desk. Behind it sat a positive bear of a man dressed in a suit, and wearing a darkened pair of spectacles. It seemed like a good a place to start as any. The man had a tag on his desk, presumably his name, but the king had no idea what it said; the symbols were unfamiliar to him.

The man looked up at the king.

"How may I help you sir?"

The man's cadence sounded odd. It sounded similar to some of the ones he had encountered during a short stay in Palancar Valley, but there was an odd lilt.

"I want to know where I am," said the king in his deep measured voice.

"You are dead, mister…?"

"King Galbatorix."

"Well king, I am Mr. Charon."

Galbatorix found that name familiar. As part of securing the aid of the priests of Helgrind, he had read their Book of Tosk, and found that part of their beliefs was that a Charon would be waiting to bring them across the river to the afterlife.

"Do you have a drachma for the passage, king?"

Galbatorix was confused, although he attempted to hide it. A drachma sounded like a coin. He pulled a crown out of the pouch at his belt.

"Will this do?"

Charon took it.

"An Alagaesian crown!" he exclaimed. "Are you Alagaesian, king?"

"Yes."

"On my word! Hades isn't going to like this. Ah well, I'll make a special trip."

Charon stepped down from the podium beckoning for him to follow. Galbatorix found himself doing so. He led him to two metal doors. He lightly brushed them, and they slid open. They stepped in. The doors closed and there was a sickening sense of motion. The small room they had stepped into flickered, and then became a barge, which Charon was pooling across a river.

Apparently, Tosk had been right. The barge bumped up against the river bank, and the other dead began to file out of the boat. Charon grabbed Galbatorix's arm as he made to follow them.

"You're not goin' that way, king. The boss has special instructions for Alagaesians. Your goin' straight to the palace."

Charon unclipped something metal from his belt and unfolded it. Galbatorix wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like it was some sort of communication device. After Charon whispered into it for a moment, he turned to look at Galbatorix.

"Wait on the river bank. Your ride will be here shortly. Do not touch the water, it will dissolve you. The Styx doesn't take kindly to anyone."

Charon paddled away, whistling a song. Galbatorix stared moodily at the black, polluted water of the Styx.

He wasn't a child to be ridiculed and locked away dammit! He was a King! He would not be ignored!

Galbatorix sighed as he relived his last moments. That cursed boy, Eragon Bromsson. He had somehow cast a spell, without the ancient language. Galbatorix needed to know the secret, especially if he was going to escape this depressing cavern.

He recalled the torrent of emotions whirling through him. The pain. The sorrow. The love.

Galbatorix quickly dampened down those thoughts. They wouldn't help him now. A screech from behind him shook him all the way back to reality. He turned to look straight into the oddest creature he had ever seen, including the Ra'zac and the Lethrblaka. A bat-winged woman, with an ugly, wrinkled face and talons to rival a dragon hatchling's. She glared at the king.

"You are the Alagaesian?" she asked. Her accent was different too, seeming more like the accents of the humans in Kuasta and Eoam.

"Yes."

"I have come to take you to the palace of Hades."

 **A/N: In case you missed it, I made the people of Carvahall and Therinsford have North London accents which is why Galbatorix identifies Charon as sounding like that. And I've always thought of the Furies as having Greek accents, and I made Kuasta (small city in the Spine) and Eoam (the only city on the islands in the south-west) having Greek accents as well. Please review, because reviews are good, and I like them.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Prophecy of The Empire

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except the plot and the two OC's**

Chiron was sitting on the porch of the Great House, enjoying a game of pinochle with Mr. D, a raven-haired son of Athena, and a visiting Roman, who was a daughter of Vulcan. The Giant War had been long over, and Camp Half-Blood was enjoying its first relative level of peace since Percy Jackson had stumbled over the hill with Grover in tow.

From a distance, Chiron could see the frizzy red hair of Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi, running up to the porch, with the equally red harpy Ella fluttering around her head. Chiron mentally sighed and tried to ignore them for as long as possible. If both of them were coming this way, then nothing good could have happened, and he wanted to enjoy the rest of this pinochle hand in peace.

Chiron had just laid down his winning hand and claimed the laurel wreath from Mr. D when Rachel finally arrived on the porch. She doubled over for a moment breathing heavily as Ella fluttered around her head.

"Not good. Prophecy not good for harpies. Not good for demigods either. 'Look, I didn't want to be a demigod.' Look: to direct one's gaze toward someone or something or in a specified direction. Left is a direction. So is right. The customer is always right."

Chiron looked up at Ella with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. The bird could be exasperating to get a straight answer from, but he couldn't help but admire such a ravenous hunger for knowledge. It was then that Chiron noticed that Rachel was carrying the scroll that she was using to record what prophecies Ella could remember from the Sibylline Books.

"What is it Rachel?"

"Chiron…I've found…a…disturbing prophecy."

Rachel rolled out the scroll, stopping at the last one. It read,

 _A group of five half-bloods shall travel to Hades,_

 _Where the Foreign King comes to face his crimes._

 _The King shall escape with the Priest and the Shade,_

 _And the Son of the Underworld shall pursue them._

 _They shall find their refuge in the Gates of Death,_

 _But in the end, chance must dictate who prevails._

Chiron sat up straighter in his wheelchair. This was quite a disturbing prophecy.

"Why does this prophecy not rhyme?" asked the son of Athena, Wilbur by name, who was looking over Chiron's shoulder at the lines.

"I do not know. But one thing is clear. This foreign king, whoever he might be, is immensely powerful, if the only thing preventing their failure is chance."

There was silence on the porch.

Suddenly Nico di Angelo ran up to the porch.

"Chiron! I have news. My father wishes me to report to you that a dangerous soul has just arrived in the Underworld. He referred to him as a foreign king."

"What?!" yelled Chiron.

"What?" asked Nico.

"Nico read this," Rachel said.

As Nico read the prophecy, his eyes darkened. He slowly set the scroll down.

"I don't like this. I hate the idea of a soul escaping Death. My father wants me to serve as one of his guards anyway. I'm going to take four demigods with me."

"Who?" asked Wilbur.

"Well, I was hoping you'd be one."

"What?"

"Yeah, you've got a pretty good tactical mind. If we're going to keep the ghost where he is, you're going to be useful."

"I suppose. Is your boyfriend going to be with us?"

Nico blushed.

"Well, yeah, but we might need a healer if he tries to run for it."

Rachel coughed.

"I want to ask Reyna along with me. She has… experience… with ghosts."

The daughter of Vulcan stepped in.

"The praetor is far too busy to go on such a quest."

"Do you really need them both at this point? All you're doing is waiting for a new battle. Sounds to me like it's coming."

"Who's going to fill out your quest?"

Nico thought about it.

"I want to take Lou Ellen. A daughter of Hecate will definitely have some perks."

They all stood up. "I'll Iris-Message the praetor," the daughter of Vulcan said.

"I'll go with you," said Nico, "You'll need a drachma, and me to make the proposal."

"What she doesn't take denarii?"

"She is a Greek goddess."

"Just go!" yelled Mr. D, who had been sitting uncharacteristically quietly, "And do it before I get irritated and turn you both into dolphins!"

 **A/N: By the way, for those of you who like dorkNico!, I definitely recommend Oh Nico, by ChickWithThePurpleGuitar. This story will sort of merge dorkNico! with angstyNico! At least that's the idea. I'm open to suggestions. There is going to be so much Solangelo it's not even funny. I also plan a bit of Theyna, and I want an Alagaesian to fall in love with one of the OC's. Please give me some reviews, because they're nice things to have.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Should She Stay or Should She Go?

 **A/N Yes, this chapter title was a deliberate reference**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Inheritance Cycle or Percy Jackson.**

Nico and the daughter of Vulcan had arrived at the Hades Cabin. Since Nico had spoken with Annabeth about the crappy design of the cabin, she had worked with him to fix it. Now the outside still looked creepy and unwelcoming, but the inside was comfortable and clean, with the addition of a few places still cast in shadow.

It had taken Nico so long to convince Will that these shadows were necessary. Speaking of Will…

"So what's this I hear about you leading a quest and assuming I was coming with you?"

"Will, you barely let me out of bed without wanting to go wherever I'm going. You're like a puppy sometimes."

"I know. I came to tell you that Lou Ellen won't be going. She and Cecil have a long non-date planned."

Lou Ellen and Cecil had been dancing around dating each other for a couple of months. During that time, they had started going out on what most would call a date, but what they insisted weren't.

Nico rolled his eyes.

"So where are you and this lovely girl going?"

The Roman and Nico both glared at Will.

"We are going to Iris-message the praetor to see if she will join us on this farce," the daughter of Vulcan said.

"Temper, temper dearie."

The three of them walked into the cabin, where Nico opened a window and turned on the humidifier. The light filtered through the copious amounts of mist to create a rainbow.

Nico dug a drachma out of his pocket and tossed it into the rainbow, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Reyna at Camp Jupiter."

The mist parted to reveal an image that made the daughter of Vulcan gasp, but Nico was already expecting. Thalia Grace was snuggled up quite close to Reyna, looking at her with a love rarely seen on the girl's face.

Nico coughed politely.

Thalia and Reyna looked at the three people through the Iris Message and freaked out, throwing each other away.

The daughter of Vulcan looked slightly scandalized, but still spoke civilly.

"Praetor, Nico di Angelo has been given a quest."

"Yes Christine?"

"He-"

"I've been offered a quest by my father to guard a 'foreign king' who has just descended into his realm."

"Why me?"

"Because there is a prophecy about his escaping, and I think you'll help us avoid that, or at least catch him sooner."

"So you want me to go with you to the Underworld to guard a spirit prophesied to escape, because I'll help you catch him."

"Um…yes?"

"Good. It was starting to get boring doing nothing. Frank can manage on his own."

Reyna turned to Thalia.

"My apologies _mi cierlo_ , but it looks like our date has been cut short."

"I would go myself, but I've had enough of the Underworld to last me a long time."

Reyna turned back to Nico.

"Anything else?"

"We need a fifth companion."

"Who do you have?"

"You, Will, and that Athena kid, Marco."

"What about Christine?"

Christine and Nico looked at each other. Nico thought that this was probably a good idea. Another Roman, and a child of Vulcan was always a good thing. It didn't look like Christine wanted to though.

"Praetor, is this really necessary?"

"I order you to go. Therefore, you cannot argue."

"Nico isn't even a Roman let alone a centurion."

"You know the Greeks are different. Besides, Pluto commands it."

Christine glowered, but she conceded the point.

"Where are we to meet?"

"We could go directly to L.A. and have you meet us later," Will suggested. "As a doctor, I can safely say that spending some time with the people you love before a quest is good for you. Wouldn't you agree Nico?"

"Hmm? Oh yes."

"Good. See you when you get there. DOA Recording Studios, right?"

"Yes."

The contact broke off and Christine positively ran from the cabin.

Will looked at Nico.

"So how about we start the medical necessities?" Will asked.

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Nico, wrapping his arms around Will.

Across the country, safely away from prying eyes, Reyna and Thalia were doing the same.

 **I really ship Theyna, so I had to put it in there. I must say, if you don't approve of my including any gay pairings, why are you even reading fanfiction based off a story centered around the gayest culture in history?**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Galbatorix's Judgement

 **A/N I am quietly vibrating right now. Thank you to SOReality for posting this story's first review! I'm glad you like it.**

 **By the way, I want to address a couple of things that you might ask about, so here we go.**

 **The son of Athena's full name is Wilbur Marco, and the daughter of Vulcan's is Christine Grant.**

 **There will soon be chapters in Alagaesia.**

 **Now on to Galbatorix's trial!**

 **Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordian or Christopher Paolini, so I don't own either of their respective stories.**

The bat-woman flew over a large, black field that reminded Galbatorix of the place he had first met Durza.

The Shade had long wandered the Spine, terrorizing the Urgals who lived there. When Galbatorix had lost his first dragon, he had wandered into what Durza had considered his territory. He had been trying to get something to kill him for several days, but was failing.

He was strolling through a valley, which a forest fire had swept through several days before. He had heard a noise behind him and spun to see the shade behind him. Back then, he looked ragged and gaunt. Far less intimidating than he would look in later years.

His hair was tangled and roughly chopped short, but he did have the sword that would later slaughter hundreds.

Galbatorix did something then that most would deem highly foolish. He lunged for the Shade, his arms reaching out to choke him to death.

Durza simply laughed and tossed him aside like a toy. He raised the hand that wasn't holding a sword and extended it towards the defeated Rider.

Galbatorix simply sat still and hoped for death. Durza was confused.

"Why do you sit there?" Durza asked, his voice cracked from years of disuse.

"Kill me."

The spirits which gave Durza his powers were usually filled with bloodlust, but in that moment, they calmed themselves and Carsaib, Durza's original personality, showed through.

"No, I do not want to do that," Carsaib said, his voice elongating the vowels in the manner that the nomadic tribes did.

"Please."

"Why do you wish for death?"

"I have lost my dragon."

"I will tell you something, young Rider. The council has more eggs does it not?"

"Yes."

"Then why can you not ask for one?"

Galbatorix hadn't thought of that. He decided to set off as soon as possible.

The Galbatorix of the present smiled slightly as he flew under the creature. He had stayed another three days with Durza, learning things from him that his teachers had considered too dangerous.

Galbatorix looked forward. Ahead, was a palace almost as grand as his citadel in Uru'baen. Its doors were about half the size, but it was nearly entirely made out of bronze. It looked imposing, and yet grandly impressive.

His ride circled through the air, her target being a small balcony off to the side of the building. She deposited the Alagaesian King onto the balcony, where two skeletons armed with spears and a third armed with a strange metal club stood there waiting for them.

Galbatorix now decided he had played along with this charade long enough. He stabbed out towards the bird's mind. His probe rammed against a mental wall and was stopped cold. This had never happened to him before.

"You will not be having any of those tricks with me. Lord Hades knows all of your Alagaesian tricks."

Galbatorix tried to reach out to the skeletons, but they had no minds at all. They were clearly the result of some kind of magic, so Galbatorix uttered the name of the Ancient Language.

Nothing happened.

"None of those little tricks now."

The skeletons forcibly grabbed Galbatorix by the arms.

"Unfortunately, the magical dampening from being dead only lasts a couple of hours. That's why we're going to bring in the new guards as fast as possible for the transfer."

Galbatorix was marched through the door. He tried to cast several spells, muttering the words under his breath, but he couldn't do it. The skeletons led him through several passageways to a large throne room, which was occupied.

There was a throne made from fused bones. On it longed a man in a black robe. He had a thick curly beard, and he seemed to radiate power. This was clearly the Lord that people kept mentioning.

Next to him was another throne, carved to look like a flower. This one was empty.

Arrayed in front of the dais were five figures. Three of them were dressed in gold robes and wore masks. These were quite unfamiliar to Galbatorix. However, he recognized one of the other two faces. One of them was Vrael, the elf who had once led the Riders, whom he had slain on Edoc'sil.

The other was also an elf, but he looked quite different to most elves. He had chestnut brown hair, and pale blue eyes, neither of which he had ever seen before in an elf. He seemed to completely lack the celebrated grace of the elves, and had a three-day growth of hair on his chin. Although he was obviously an elf, at first glance he could be mistaken for a long-lived human Rider.

One of the masked figures called out in a flat voice that sounded practiced.

"Galbatorix, Self-styled King of Alagaesia, Former Dragon Rider."

Galbatorix walked forward, and attempted to assault the mind of the figure who spoke. He encountered a mental armor stronger than the one the bird had.

"There will be no mind games," said the man on the throne, "You are here to be judged."

Galbatorix stood in front of the five men. Suddenly, five presences erupted into his head. He tried to block them out, but he had never been particularly good at it. He just ended up attacking as hard as he could in the hope that he could pierce their mental armor, but to no avail.

"Slaughterer of his people," one of the masked figures said.

"Nearly destroyed an entire race," said another.

"Endangered a peace between races," said the man-like elf.

"Unrepentant," Vrael stated dispassionately.

"Heartless killer," said the final masked figure.

All five men then spoke in unison.

"Punishment for the Alagaesian King."

As Galbatorix was led out of the throne room by no less than ten skeletons, he wondered why they had just said "Punishment."

He already had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.

 **A/N Don't worry, the plot is going to pick up really soon! Please review, I really like getting reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Escape from the Dungeon of Hades

 **A/N I'm going to be posting two chapters with this, because this is the chapter I really wanted to write. We already have the King, and mentioned the Shade, so who's going to be the Priest? No prizes for guessing, because this chapter will tell you.**

 **Any time Galbatorix refers to Carsaib, he means Durza.**

 **Disclaimer: Do I really need one at this point? Fine. I don't own the stories this fic is based off of, otherwise this would be published and you'd have to pay to read it.**

Galbatorix looked around the room the skeletons had shoved him in. It was empty. Galbatorix's powers were starting to return, but he couldn't use most of what he knew. Without the Eldunari, Galbatorix was only slightly stronger than the average elf.

Instead, he cast out with his mind, surprised when he almost instantly encountered the touch of a mind that was both familiar, and highly strange. The person in the next cell was asleep. Galbatorix was surprised at that, seeing as he expected the dead to not need sleep. Could this person be alive?

Galbatorix began pacing his cell, hoping that something he liked would happen. Unbidden, his mind again returned to Carsaib.

After Galbatorix had his request denied, and killed two of the Riders in revenge, he had taken the Eldunari of the council member's dragon off of the dead body. Galbatorix fled back into the Spine where he encountered Carsaib again.

Together they subjugated the Eldunari. It had been quite difficult, but it had helped him develop his formidable mind-breaker skills. The Rider and the Shade began to do some planning, attempting to find a workable strategy for tearing down the order that expelled Galbatorix.

They spent months on it, but couldn't figure out a plan. Everything changed however, when they were found by Morzan. The Rider and his red dragon had been looking for Galbatorix. He wanted to bring him back to the Riders and force them to charge him with murder.

Instead, Galbatorix convinced Morzan that the Riders were evil. The four of them, dragon, Shade, Rider, and madman devised a plan. Galbatorix stole a dragon hatchling, and using energy from the Eldunari, accelerated his growth.

It had pained him so when Shruikan had been killed by that dratted elf-woman.

After thinking all of this, and many more things, there was the sound of arms clashing in the hallway outside of the cell. Galbatorix could sense five people coming down the hallway, who seemed to be fighting something.

The noise suddenly stopped. The wall melted away, and there stood Galbatorix's rescuers. One of them was a man dressed in a jumpsuit, and looked pale, with a starved look about him. Another looked to barely have reached manhood, but his eyes were a scummy green, and he looked psychotically happy. In the front however, was a young man with blond hair. He looked pale and unhealthy, but he was dressed extravagantly in a purple robe, with a white hood and several pounds of gold jewelry.

"Who are you?" asked the crazy boy.

"King Galbatorix."

"Alagaesian?"

"Yes."

"Good. There is another Alagaesian in the next cell."

The group moved to another stretch of wall. The blond boy, obviously the leader, spoke up.

"Antaeus, if you could do the honors?"

A hulking giant stepped out of the group to the door. He was very red in color and had wave tattoos on his body. He pressed his hand against the door, and it physically moved out of the way.

Galbatorix looked to see the Alagaesian. He didn't recognize the figure.

He had dark hair and skin, but wore black clothing and had a sword at his side. He drew the sword and it had a long scratch down it. The man looked up.

Galbatorix stared into the face of the man he thought he would never see again.

Carsaib.

 **Muahahahahahahahaha! I'm going to leave this at a cliff hanger. Sorry this chapter is so short. In any case, please read and review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Two Battles, an Oath and a Premonition.

 **A/N: Yay! I got more reviews. To answer them in order,**

 **I don't plan on abandoning this. Ever.**

 **Nico is my absolute favorite character. And yes, Eragon will show up. In this chapter actually.**

 **Thank you for liking it.**

 **Galbatorix isn't as evil in the Underworld, because he's still under the after effects of Eragon's spell. He will grow eviler once they get to Alagaesia.**

 **The new chapter is this one, and it goes up today. Also, cliffhangers are just to make sure that people continue to read, because you want to know what happens next. I will not pull a Rick though and wait a whole year.**

 **NOW WE GO ONCE MORE UNTO THE STORY!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the respective stories, just this one.**

Nico was already aggravated. The four demigods were only in Illinois, and this was the third ambush they had walked into. This one involved a hodgepodge of the dog-headed people like Octavian had in his army, a dracanae, and oddly enough, a wolf about as big as Mrs. O'Leary.

Will did his super sonic whistle and three of the five dog heads died on the spot. Marco leaped over his head and stabbed the dracanae and it exploded into dust. Christine had left her Roman equipment back at camp, because she hadn't been expecting to need it, but surprisingly enough, she was holding her own against the wolf with a bronze hammer that she had, "borrowed" from the Laistrygonian they had encountered in northern Pennsylvania.

Nico stabbed the dog guy that had been preparing to leap on Will. Will flashed him a grateful look, but Nico pretended not to notice. Marco stabbed another dog guy, and only the wolf was left.

"Why does this thing have such a thick skull?" yelled Christine as she swung her hammer into the thing's head and it only looked knocked around. Nico jumped for the wolf and stabbed it. Instead of doing what most Greek creatures would have done when stabbed with Stygian Iron, that is dissolve, the thing just shook its head and leaped on Nico.

 _Escaped the f***ing king of the werewolves, just to get killed by a wolf,_ Nico thought.

There was a certain irony to it.

Nico hadn't reckoned on how crazy his boyfriend would go when he was in danger. The weight of the wolf was lifted from him. Nico looked at the wolf in confusion and found Will beating it up. The wolf was yelping like a puppy, and when it wormed out of Will's grasp, it ran, tail between its legs.

The demigods looked after it in surprise. This was something they were not familiar with.

Christine turned to Marco.

"Wilbur, you know what that was?"

The son of Athena shook his head.

"It looked like one of Lycaon's wolves, but they would die up against Stygian Iron. Or any other magic metal for that matter."

Nico didn't know what it was, but he instinctively knew it meant nothing good.

Galbatorix walked with the group of spirits and monsters, in complete shock. He had never expected to see Carsaib again after that cursed boy had taken him away from him. Now that he knew that whatever he had done threw him into this place, he wanted to hurt that boy in any way possible.

 _Eragon Son of Brom,_ Galbatorix thought in the Ancient Language, _I will destroy your life._

Eragon Bromsson was at that very moment in the midst of a revolution. A man known as Tharos the Quick was in an uprising against Queen Nasuada in revenge against his sister's death. The uprising had taken several months to quash so far, and they had the rebels pinned down in a marsh near Aroughs. Roran and Eragon were planning their strategies. They were glad that Nasuada had assigned them both to the battle.

They didn't particularly want to see any more battle, but they liked being with each other again. It had been far too long.

"Eragon, if we send all of the archers in this side, they won't arrive in time. Look at the terrain there."

Eragon was about to agree when the trumpets of the enemy force sounded and they attacked.

Eragon and Roran ran out. Eragon cursed to himself. Saphira had gone hunting not an hour ago. He should have known not to trust the quiet.

Roran held his hammer out and dove into the front line, marshalling the troops they had been given. They began to push back the force, as Eragon reached a vantage point and began to carefully cast spells, destroying certain swathes of enemies, blocking certain reinforcements.

Eragon didn't like being up on the cliff casting spells. That seemed more like what the Twins would do, but he and Roran had agreed on this. Roran didn't trust magic, but he did trust Eragon, so they agreed on it.

Eragon watched as a man with a grandly plumed helmet strode up to the center of the battlefield were Roran was. He could hear his words from where he was.

"Stronghammer! I challenge you! You are an unworthy murderer!"

Roran could not resist a challenge like that. He flew out of his ranks and attacked Tharos. Tharos attempted to defend himself, but the luck and skill that had carried Roran through many victories did not desert him. He slammed his hammer into Tharos's helm, killing the man.

With the death of their leader, the rebel's spirit broke and they fled. Roran announced victory and the men celebrated.

Later that night, while Eragon laid in his tent, enjoying his waking dreams, a premonition came to him, blotting out his surroundings.

 _He saw a battle near Dras-Leona where he rode on the back of Saphira. On the ground, rode a figure on a strange, dragon-like beast which had no wings. Surrounding the figure was a strange assortment of beasts Eragon had also never seen. In the sky was Murtagh and another Dragon Rider. Also on the ground was a group of several skeletons and a Shrrg. Saphira dove and began to burn several of the creatures, and the lizard rider reached up and shot a burst of energy at him._

Eragon's eyes snapped open and he looked at the underside of the canvas tent.

What new terror was coming to Alagaesia?

 **I know all of you hate cliffhangers, so here I gave you another. I'm far too evil for my own good. I'll put up a new chapter soon, don't you fret my little readers.**

 **See you soon**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Reflecting on the Recent Past

 **A/N: I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long time, but I couldn't find my copy of Inheritance to write it properly! I've got it now, and now here we go. This was going to be the previous chapter, but I wanted to get into some Alagaesian things before we got into this.**

 **Right before I go on for too long and need to change my username to LordofRambling1, ON TO THE STORY!**

 **Disclaimer: Seeing as none of this happened and you had to go to to find it, I clearly do not own Percy Jackson, or the Inheritance Cycle.**

Galbatorix wondered how he and Carsaib had ended up in this odd place. The group they were traveling which were quite the hodgepodge. The pale, blond boy was more of the leader type, although the sick man in orange seemed to regard him with distaste.

The giant seemed to answer only to the boy, and didn't say much. The other boy, the crazy one, seemed to hate everyone around him, but outwardly tried to show no sign of it.

The fifth member of their group was the oddest, and also seemed to follow only the pale boy. This thing was a human with two heads and a large club.

The seven of them traveled on in silence. Galbatorix reflected on when he had fought Eragon. He had taunted him, hoping to break his morale. As Galbatorix sank in memory, his vision was near blotted out and he felt as if he was actually there…

"Is that so. How? And why?" he had asked. This mere boy had the arrogance to challenge him!

"Think about what you are saying. You would stop the first opportunity that Alagaesia has had for true peace to sate your over-developed sense of vengeance? You would allow magicians everywhere to continue to have their way, regardless of the harm they cause others? That seems far worse than anything I have done."

Ha! That would stump the boy. It hardly mattered at this point however, and he had said so.

"But this is idle speculation. The finest warriors of the Riders could not defeat me, and you are far from their equal. You never had any hope of overthrowing me. None of you did."

Then the boy said something unforgivable.

"I killed Durza and I killed the Ra'zac. Why not you?"

He was furious. He had howled in misery when he heard that Carsaib had died. The man he loved, dead. Now he would cut this little arrogant fool to the quick!

"I am not as weak as those who serve me. You could not even trounce Murtagh, and he is but a shadow of a shadow. Your father Morzan, was far more powerful than either of you, and even he could not withstand my might."

"Besides," he said with vindictive pleasure, "you are mistaken if you think you destroyed the Ra'zac. The eggs in Dras-Leona weren't the only ones I took from the Lethrblaka. I have others, hidden elsewhere. Soon they will hatch, and soon the Ra'zac shall once more roam the earth to do my bidding."

And now to hide his feelings, "As for Durza," it took an immense force of will to avoid calling him Carsaib, "Shades are easy to make, and are often far more trouble than they are worth. So you see, you have won _nothing_ , boy-nothing but false victories."

As he said this, he had made a silent plea to Carsaib's soul to forgive him for his words.

He then waited for Eragon's response. When none was forthcoming, he thought to himself, _Checkmate_.

Murtagh and Thorn had then entered the throne room…

Galbatorix's reverie was interrupted by Carsaib.

"What are you thinking about, my King?"

"Nothing important Carsaib."

The group stopped at a place that was filled with screams and flames. The three humans reacted differently. The pale boy shuddered. The sick looking man closed his eyes and looked as if he was going to vomit. The crazy boy looked like he was having a pleasant time.

"Octavian," the man said, "Are you sure this will work?"

The boy glared at the man.

"Tantalus, I told you, I did the math. It's night time right now. Melinoe is going to be up on the surface of the planet. We just need to reach Long Island Sound and we can go through the breach."

"What if the demigods have found it?"

"I sent some of the Cenocephali and Scythian Dracanae to attack them. And this guy here," he indicated the two-headed giant, "is going to attack them with a few friends."

The group began moving around the fiery field.

Then there was a noise behind them. A low dangerous growl.

Galbatorix turned to see a long, snake like creature.

It was a dark, brown with bright green eyes.

One of the five people behind him yelled "Drakon!"

The drakon leaped.

Carsaib went to work with his sword attempting to kill the creature. Galbatorix would have joined him, but he didn't get to keep his blade when he died.

Instead, Galbatorix thrusted out at the creature with his mind. It was surprisingly intelligent, but incapable of speech.

 _Obey_ , he commanded.

The drakon threw off Carsaib, but walked over to Galbatorix.

Not precisely a dragon, but it would do.

He turned to look at his companions, who stared back at him open-mouthed.

"What?"

Behind him, Carsaib grinned maliciously.

 **Please don't kill me for putting Durza and Galbtorix in a relationship. I'm going to put some straight pairings in this, don't you worry. Please give me some ideas as to Alagaesian characters you want to see, I'm already planning on Murtagh, Nasuada, Eragon, and Roran, but I'll write in any suggestions you may have.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: An Evil in Alagaesia

 **A/N Here comes a big chapter I have been very excited about! The crossings to Alagaesia.**

 **I'm posting a double chapter, because I realized that I forgot to post chapter seven before writing this one, so you get both! My gift to you.**

 **To answer the Guest Review,**

 **I do pride myself on my general evilness. It's why I'm a Slytherin, who I think are quite misrepresented, but I digress.**

 **He will become a Rider, but the person in Eragon's dream is not him. *Hint: at this point Eragon hasn't seen a certain elf in three months***

 **I will keep writing, and your reviews bring joy to my heart, whoever you may be.**

 **Anyway, ON TO THE KING, THE PRIEST, AND THE SHADE!**

Octavian grinned as the group he was leading entered the cave. That fool Tantalus was useful, but a pain. He had been insisting that they didn't need the Alagaesians. Now they had themselves a drakon and control over various people.

As they followed the dark path up to the surface, he heard the two Alagaesian men whispering to each other. He wasn't sure exactly what they were saying, but it was clear to him that they had known each other quite well in life.

As they walked up, Octavian cursed Apollo and the other gods. He didn't need them to establish a new Roman Empire! He would do it with the forces he brought, and the Alagaesians!

The tunnel opened up onto the beaches of Long Island, some three miles down from Camp Half-Blood. Octavian savored the breath of air as it whipped past. The man dressed as a king swept forward, followed by his companion.

"Before we go any further, I must ask you where we are going."

Octavian found himself locked in a desire to tell the king everything he knew, then stopped himself and looked at him suspiciously. This had felt like the one time that _graecus_ who had been dating Praetor Grace used charmspeak on him.

However, Octavian was a good judge of character, and if he didn't want to be killed, he ought to do as the king says.

"We are going back to Alagaesia. Just over that hill is a point linking our two worlds."

As this conversation happened, several of the two headed giants began to run up the coastline.

"Lead on," the king commanded, mounting his drakon.

"What did you name it my liege?" asked the king's companion.

"Hefnd," the king said.

The companion grinned.

"Vengeance," he translated.

Octavian began to lead the group over the hill, preparing himself for Tantalus to challenge him. Bryce marched by his side, and the Alagaesians followed behind them.

Much later, Octavian could see Camp Half-Blood in the distance. They were already besieged by the two headed men on the other side, near the Athena Parthenos. Octavian slowly crept to a point close to the barrier then turned to gesture out on the Long Island Sound.

"There is the portal. We need an offering of earth to open the portal."

"Why?" the king asked.

"That's the exact spot where Gaea was obliterated. It's cracked the very fabric of reality."

"How do you know this?" challenged Tantalus

"I have my sources."

The king stepped forward and spoke a set of words that rang in Octavian's ears. The drakon snorted in surprise, and with some other unidentifiable emotion. A large lump of dirt floated up and was directed towards the exact spot of the portal.

Octavian quickly spoke in Latin, describing the people to fly up to the portal the moment it opened. The dirt connected to the fracture and it opened, silently. The entire group, including the drakon, flew into the portal.

Far to the north of the country, Murtagh and Thorn were in the midst of an argument. They had, not one hour earlier felt a great tremor of magic, one that was quite familiar to them.

 _MURTAGH! WE HAVE A DUTY AS A RIDER AND DRAGON TO COMBAT THIS EVIL!_

"NEVER AGAIN THORN! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?"

 _ERAGON WILL NEED ALL OF US TO HELP HIM IN THIS! THE THIRD EGG HAS YET TO HATCH-_

"Only as far as we know."

 _Even if it had, the dragon couldn't be large enough to do anything much yet, unless it hatched the day we got it out. Even if it had, Eragon could still use our help._

Murtagh sighed.

"Alright, you silly little lizard. We'll go."

Murtagh clambered onto Thorn and they started to fly south, towards home

 **I had wanted to name the Drakon vengeance in the Ancient Language, but I looked on InheriWiki and couldn't find one, so I looked up the Old Norse word for it and the result I found said Hefnd so that's what he's going to be named. Very soon, Nico is going to reach Alagaesia, don't you worry my little readers.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Hades' Order

 **A/N I'd like to thank all of you readers for your support. Also, I'd like to thank the reviewers, because reviews are nice and they please me, and on the plus side, you get more content when I am pleased.**

 **In any case, to answer the review posted by Matt,**

 **Octavian was there the whole time, I was just trying to be sneaky and only allude to him. You don't have to wonder about craziness, there will be plenty of that, along with battles, intrigue, and romance (hopefully).**

 **Just to make sure you haven't forgotten: Wilbur Marco is the name of the son of Athena. Now, ONWARDS TO THE TALE!**

Nico, Will, Christine and Wilbur stumbled across the Little Tiber. The last week had been one of the suckiest they had ever endured. They were tired and beat up, and really did not want to go on guard duty.

Will looked over at Nico worriedly, and not just because they were dating. Nico kept insisting on using his powers despite Will's objections. Even though it had been over a year since Nico had traveled across the Atlantic with the Athena Parthenos, there was still the chance that Nico could suffer a relapse.

There was nothing Will could do, and Nico insisted on being entirely unhelpful, arguing at every turn, picking up McDonalds at one in the morning, and generally being a pest.

Reyna was waiting for them on the far side.

"You all look like you've just been to Pluto's realm without me," she said.

"We just need a bit of rest and some creature comforts," Will replied.

"Hear, hear!" said Wilbur.

Reyna smiled as they started walking.

"Hey Will!" she called, "Do your Nico orders still stand?"

Despite their seriousness, Will grinned.

"Yup. No Underworld Magic for Death Boy here."

"I told you several times, not to call me Death Boy!"

Reyna began to chuckle, as she led the entire group to the baths.

It was several hours later when the Iris-Message came. All five of them were sitting in Reyna's little praetor house. Nico sat bolt upright when he saw who it was.

Hades.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We needed a bit of a rest! You weren't expecting us until tomorrow!" Nico shouted.

"Circumstances have changed."

"What do you mean?" Interjected Reyna.

"There's been a mass escape. Five souls."

Nico looked highly concerned.

"How? Who?"

Hades was absolutely infuriated.

"Galbatorix, the king. Carsaib, also known as Durza, who is also from the same place. Tantalus, the king who thought he could fool us. Octavian, and his lackey Bryce Lawrence."

Now Nico also was furious. Hades continued.

"From what my investigators have found, the giant Antaeus helped. There was also evidence of a drakon. The trail led right to Melinoe's cave."

"That's a problem."

"What do you mean?" asked Christine

It was Marco who answered.

"The cave of Melinoe leads to a different place every night. Even if we could get Melinoe to tell us where it went, which we can't, it would be near impossible to track them. Ghost magic and all that."

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"I need you down here now, to try and find this group of escapees, and consult with our only remaining ghost from that realm."

Hades waved his hand, and the five demigods were instantly shadow traveled into Hades' throne room, along with their newly packed supplies.

Hades stood in the middle of the throne room and next to him was a strange looking man. He was tall and feline, with pointed ears and hair that was nearly white. In fact, to Nico he looked like an elf.

"This is Oromis, the only other spirit that is left from the other realm. In life, he was crippled by magic. Now, he may use whatever magic he wishes, although he rarely bothers."

Oromis smiled kindly at the demigods.

"Come," he said, "I must tell you about Alagaesia."

They walked closer to him, and he told them about Alagaesia, and its Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Urgals, Werecats, Dragons, and Ra'zac. When the telling was done, they stared at Oromis in disbelief, and he stared back in compassion.

Hades broke the silence.

"The reason any of these people are here, is indirectly because of Gaia and Octavian. In the explosion that killed Gaia, the walls that separate these two realms weakened considerably, allowing some ghosts through to our realm. We try to treat them the same when they come, but we summon two of the greatest people in their history whenever they are judged, so that it is fairer to them."

"In any case," Oromis added, "there are several methods of getting to Alagaesia right now, but none of them are reliable, or even easy to find. So, Hades has called in a favor to get a more permanent solution."

Another figure appeared in the throne room. Hermes, god of travelers.

"Right so the plan is simple. My travel magic plus elf-man's transfer spell plus a bit of death type Hades magic, should set up a gateway of sorts, directly linking Alagaesia to here."

"Wouldn't that mean whoever dies in Alagaesia comes directly here?"

"Yes. Thanatos has been working with our IT department to get new apps for Alagaesian souls. Unfortunately, the gods can't manifest in Alagaesia, no matter how hard we try. Thanatos hopes to make sure that the dead all are guided to the entrance."

Hermes led the entire group over to the river Styx, passing by places where Daedalus' overpasses were already getting built.

Charon ferried them across the River, and all of them, excepting Oromis stepped out of the boat.

The elf began chanting in a language completely unfamiliar to Nico. Hermes extended his caduceus, and Hades placed his sword in front of the patch of wall. The stone rumbled and split to reveal a tunnel.

The demigods stood in shock as both gods disappeared and Charon took Oromis back.

"Shall we?" asked Will, attempting to make light of it.

Nico glared at his boyfriend as they began to march up the tunnel, hoping against hope that they would enter Alagaesia.

 **Right, now that the plot is picking up a bit, I want your opinion my readers. Who should meet the demigods first? Please note that we need to have a good guy meet them first, so no Galbatorix or Bryce or any of them.**

 **In any case, if you want anyone else to show up at all, please tell me that too!**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Several People Show Up at the Same Time

 **A/N So, at the end of last chapter when I asked, I only expected one, or maybe two, ideas and then I'd pick the one I liked the most. What I got was three good ideas, and I didn't want to pick one.**

 **So I thought,** ** _okay, how am I going to do this_** **? I couldn't really think of anything, and then this idea hit me. I don't know if any of you have read the Crucible, but in the first scene, several characters sort of show up and cram into one room, so I've decided to do something on those lines.**

 **Thank You to SOReality, Grammar Nazi co, and unknown Guest reviewer for giving your suggestions.**

 **To answer the three guest reviews,**

 **Chapter Seven: yes**

 **Chapter Eight: yes**

 **Chapter Nine: glad you still like it**

 **And also, I'd recommend you get an account, so I can give you some credit and stuff.**

 **ON TO THE STORY!**

Eragon was nearly vibrating in excitement as he looked up at the stone towers which housed the Eldunari and the dragon eggs. Arya had just sent him a note by means of grass boat asking Saphira and himself to meet her there.

 _If you do much more trembling, little one, you shall addle your brain,_ said Saphira, laughing in that odd way she did.

 _Hush Sheep-Biter._

 _I'll get you for that!_

Truth be told, despite her remarks, Saphira was just as excited as Eragon. She was quite fond of Arya, especially since Eragon liked her.

Blodhgarm came to meet them.

"Atra esterni ono thelduin!"

"Atra du evarinya ono varda."

"Un atra mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr, Eragon-elda. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He and Blodhgarm had spent several days getting to know each other as the had occasionally worked together on particularly stubborn Eldunari. Eragon now trusted him above all the other spell-casters.

"Arya Svit-kona sent me this letter asking me to meet her here at this hour."

"She has yet to arrive."

"I understand. May I wait here for her arrival, Blodhgarm-vor?"

"You are always welcome here."

Eragon smiled as they went in and Saphira remained outside, content to curl up and have a short nap.

"How is Hvitrdramur?"

"My mate is well, as always."

"Good, good."

Blodhgarm and Eragon walked over to the balcony they usually sat on and looked out at the serene landscape.

"Well, if it isn't Firesword!"

Eragon started at hearing the name the Urgals gave him coming from a human tongue, and whirled around, hand going to his sword, before realizing it was Angela, Solembum at her heels as per usual.

The hat that Eragon had seen her knitting about three months ago were on her head.

"You know, you never told me what those runes meant," Eragon said.

"I told you that you wouldn't understand anyway."

"I suppose you being here means that there is something interesting about to happen?"

Angela chuckled.

"I suppose _you_ aren't as blind as I thought."

Eragon wasn't sure whether to be pleased or offended. He went with pleased.

"Thank you."

"Why, you're welcome."

Blodhgarm smiled up at the herbalist.

"How did you like the Rider Eggs, Fricai Wyrda?"

 _Fate Friend?_ Eragon wondered to himself.

"I think the gold one with the black markings, and the purple one with the white markings are going to be the next ones."

"I see. Should we give those to Arya when she arrives?"

"Arya is coming?"

"Yes," said Eragon, joining the conversation. He handed Angela the letter.

As she read it, Eragon restlessly turned southward. As he looked, a bright red dot appeared on the horizon.

 _Saphira look._

Saphira stirred and looked where he was gesturing. In shock she said,

 _That's Thorn!_

Eragon ran off the balcony, through the rooms and out to where Saphira was now awake. They could see Thorn clearly now, carrying three people on his back.

Blodhgarm, Angela and Solembum joined them, as well as another elf, Yaela.

Thorn landed next to Saphira, and the three people riding him dismounted. It was Murtagh, Nasuada, and Elva.

"Nasuada!" Eragon exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Murtagh? Could you tell him?"

"Thorn and I have felt a burst of magical energy that we've both identified as highly dangerous. It originated from somewhere to the south of Du Weldenvarden."

"So you brought Nasuada and Elva as well?"

"No Eragon," Nasuada said. "He came to my hall looking for you, but you weren't there. He asked me, citing his reason, and I insisted I come."

"As for me," Elva said, "I insist on going wherever Nasuada does."

Eragon quietly accepted their explanations.

"I might ask what Angela is doing here."

"It caught my fancy."

While they were talking, a dragon they had never seen before crept up to them.

Eragon was in the midst of hearing a story that Murtagh was telling about meeting an Urgal even bigger than the Kull, when Arya spoke from astride her dragon, amusement coloring her voice.

"Well this is quite a merry gathering!"

Eragon turned and was dumbstruck.

"Arya! You- But-"

Arya laughed as what Eragon was going to say died down into incoherent noises.

"Firnen here hatched for me!"

The dragon was a beautiful green color, verging on white near his belly. Arya's expression then turned more serious.

"I didn't ask you here to show off my dragon though, Eragon. Our entire nation is in turmoil over the burst of energy we sensed two days ago."

"Why didn't Saphira and I sense it?"

 _We were mopping up the rebels in Aroughs two days ago. The ones who ran into the swamp._

"Why is this burst so important that it would bring all of you back into this part of Alagaesia?"

"Because-" Arya started before a huge boulder twenty feet to their left cracked and five figure stepped out of it.

Eragon's first thought was, _could this day get any weirder?_

Will looked at the group of people they had stumbled on when they first walked out of the path to the Underworld. They were an odd group.

There was a black woman with a simple crown, more of a northern Europe style, than the golden laurel wreaths favored by the Greek kings he had come across. Next to her was a man with black clothes who stood near her protectively. Will knew there was something between the two. On the other side was a girl that Will assumed to be about ten.

Across from them was a teenaged boy with features very similar to Oromis, with their feline sharpness and grace, but with a certain ruggedness, and a bit of stubble. With him was a female elf, and a woman with a cloud of curly hair.

As well there was a human-like wolf with black fur, and another female elf, who stood very close to the teenaged boy. Will could tell that the two liked each other, the boy more so than the elf.

What really took him aback though, were three huge dragons, the largest being the red one, but the blue one wasn't too far behind, and the green one being a bit smaller than that. Will could tell that the blue one was the female.

Nico glared at the group of people, specifically the wolf. The dragons he didn't mind so much as the fact that these people were allowing that werewolf scum to remain alive.

Nico drew his Stygian Iron sword and charged, ignoring Will and Reyna's yells to come back and don't be stupid.

The older boy charged to meet him, his speed far exceeding any humans. Nico had trained under similar circumstances however: the dead are not encumbered by physical concerns.

Nico barely registered that the boy's sword was of a bright, gleaming blue, before they began dueling fiercely, Nico holding his own despite his opponent's clear superiority in speed and strength.

Eragon couldn't believe what was happening. Any human opponent should already be disarmed or dead. It wasn't just a question of different techniques, this boy seemed to know exactly how to compensate for increased speed.

His sword had also caught his eye. It was black as ink, with a skull for a pommel. It lacked any sort of gemstone, but it was clearly not a normal metal.

 _Is it brightsteel?_ Eragon wondered.

Elva shrieked, just as the odd sword bit into his side.

Reyna charged down to the fight, hoping that no one would prevent her from restraining the fool.

She cursed Nico as she ran. She reached the fight, already predicting where Nico was going to roll next. As he did so, she grabbed him, and pulled him away from the strange warrior. He looked at her in confusion as the rest of the demigods arrived.

One of them, Marco she thought, spoke, "We're all very sorry about this idiot. We didn't mean to attack you."

Will bent down to examine Eragon's wound.

"I don't understand this. You can't be mortal, otherwise the sword would have passed right through you, but you didn't dissolve either."

Reyna was already yelling at Nico in Latin.

"You idiot di Angelo!" she yelled in that language. "Why did you attack them!"

Nico glared at Reyna and pointed at the wolf and said in English, "The werewolf."

Eragon was thoroughly confused, as was the rest of the group. One of the strange boy's companions had come to restrain him, another had apologized, and a third had looked at him and said something incomprehensible about not being mortal and the sword destroying him.

Now the girl who had restrained the boy was yelling at him in a language he had never heard before. Then the boy had pointed at Blodhgarm and said, "The werewolf."

Eragon had no idea how to react and was surprised when Blodhgarm and Angela both burst out laughing.

"I am not one of those silly little legends boy. I am an elf!"

"What do you mean?" Nasuada asked.

Angela explained.

"When humans landed back in Alagaesia, one of their first reactions was that elves were wolf-men who could assume a human form. They called them werewolves."

The girl who had been yelling in the odd language, as well as the boy with black hair and stormy grey eyes both looked at her askance.

"But there is a such thing!" the girl protested.

"We just said there isn't," argued Angela.

"But King Lycaon was turned into one by Zeus for trying to feed him human flesh," explained the boy.

"Who is Zeus?"

Oromis had warned them that the people of Alagaesia were unfamiliar with the ancient Greek stories, but Marco hadn't been expecting this.

"Maybe before we get into this, we ought to have some introductions, and some explanations?"

"Let's do!" said the curly-haired woman.

"I'm Wilbur Marco, son of Athena. This is Will Solace, son of Apollo, and his boyfriend Nico di Angelo, son of Hades." Several of the people seemed surprised by the gay relationship. The elves, and the curly-haired woman weren't but the rest seemed slightly troubled, as if such a relationship had never occurred to them.

"Here we have Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona. Our last member is Christine Grant, Daughter of Vulcan."

The boy who had dueled with Nico, who looked like a mix between a human and an elf, spoke first.

"I am Eragon Shadeslayer, Son of Brom. This is my dragon, Saphira." He indicated the blue dragon.

The black woman spoke next.

"I am Nasuada, High Queen of the Broddring Kingdom."

Then the young girl stepped forward. She was quite striking, with violet eyes, and her hair brushed aside to reveal a silver star on her forehead. She introduced herself in the voice of an adult, which made the demigods flinch.

"I am Elva Farseer."

Nico chose to speak.

"You have suffered more death than you can bear Farseer, and not by your own volition it seems."

Elva gasped.

"How can you know this?"

"My father is Hades, God of the Underworld."

The elves looked at Nico as though he had gone insane. The man in black stepped forward.

"I am Murtagh, Son of Morzan. This is my dragon, Thorn." He waved vaguely at the red dragon.

"I am Angela," said the curly-haired woman, "and this is my long faithful companion, Solembum." Angela indicated an odd-looking cat.

"My name is Arya Drottningu," said one of the female elves, the one with the black hair, "and this is my dragon Firnen." Marco found Arya to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, but it was impossible to avoid noticing how Eragon looked at her. Best not to get involved.

"I am Yaela," the other female elf said.

The wolf-elf then spoke, "My name is Blodhgarm, and I choose to look like this. I admire the creatures of the wild. Some elves look far stranger than myself, but I cannot turn back at will."

Marco found these introductions to be quite satisfactory.

"Tell me please," asked Arya, "You have told us who you are, but not quite what you are."

Will answered, "We are demigods. One of our parents is a god, the other a human."

"Elves don't believe in gods."

"Yes, Oromis told us this."

Eragon reeled.

 _How could they possibly know who Oromis is?_

 _The one you fought mentioned an Underworld._ Saphira answered.

"Please describe Oromis for us," Eragon said.

The one called Christine answered.

"He was tall and kindly. He had silver hair and a certain wiseness about him, but also a certain sadness. Hades also said, 'In life, he was crippled by magic.'"

Eragon stared in wonderment. They truly knew him.

Arya's mind had been working quickly.

"If you've just come from this Underworld, then there must be a reason."

The boy, Nico answered.

"Five spirits have escaped into your land. Three of them are vilified in our world. Octavian, who nearly wiped out half of the Demigods. Bryce, who killed his own centurion and enjoys inflicting pain. Tantalus, who killed his children and tried to feed them to the gods."

"The other two are Alagaesian?" Arya asked.

"Yes. One of them is known as Carsaib."

Eragon gasped and Arya looked at him.

"What?"

"That was the name of the human who became Durza."

"The other was King Galbatorix."

There was a sudden explosion of noise as every Alagaesian tried to talk at the same time.

 **Wow, I can't believe I wrote this much in one chapter! 2,446 words at that. I'm sorry if it dragged, especially at the introductions. I wanted to get the Demigods' reactions.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Helgrind

 **A/N Again, sorry if the last chapter dragged. I just realized that I forgot to include translations for the ancient language, so here we go.**

 **-vor: a male honorific for a close friend**

 **Hvitrdramur: Dream White, Blodhgarm's current mate**

 **Fricai Wyrda: Fate Friend or Friend of Fate, an elvish name for Angela**

 **So now that we've had all of these complicated introductions, I've decided to return to the villains of the story and show how they've been fairing in Alagaesia.**

The other side of the portal was filled with a darkness the likes of which only happened in a cave. Galbatorix instantly cast his mind out, sensing Hefnd, Carsaib, and the rest of the group.

The cavern was suddenly lit by a werelight as Carsaib instinctively cast a spell for it. The cavern was a wild beauty, with high vaulted ceilings.

The room had several things within it. There was a giant cauldron filled with what Galbatorix knew was converted Seithr oil. Surrounding the room were several glyphs from the ancient language carved into the stone, which was an enormous spell of concealing, designed to ensure that the room was never found.

On a table, surrounded by chunks of amethyst, were two Ra'zac eggs. In between them, was an Eldunari from an aqua dragon. The first Eldunari he had ever captured.

When he had come to Dras-Leona to search for Murtagh, Galbatorix had placed Skolir here with the Ra'zac eggs.

While Galbatorix looked and remembered, the members of the group who weren't from Alagaesia looked around themselves in wonderment.

The one in the purple robes spoke first, "What is this place?"

"It's a cavern, approximately one hundred feet below the mountain Helgrind," Galbatorix replied.

"Who set this place up?"

"I did," Galbatorix said, "And I'm afraid I can't let any of you leave."

Galbatorix spoke a quick line in the Ancient Language, and a line of glyphs began to glow with a gold energy before suddenly going out and putting the giant and the three human companions into a deep sleep.

Carsaib walked up to Galbatorix. "Right. If we're going to make me as useful as I once was, we're going to need a circle.

"There's one right there," Galbatorix responded, gesturing to the location he meant.

"I see. Why did you make this circle?"

"I had planned on making Eragon a Shade."

"A Shade who is also a Rider."

"I would have made him completely subservient of course."

"Obviously."

Carsaib walked over to the circle and recalled the spirit's names and the necessary incantations.

"Right, I'm going to need you to repeat this line, so that the spirits cannot escape the circle," Carsaib said.

Galbatorix listened to the line, memorizing it instantly.

The man who would soon be a shade walked into the circle and began chanting in the ancient language, calling out to the spirits, while Galbatorix stood outside of the circle, repeating his designated line.

Three black clouds entered the room and began spiraling around Carsaib. The last sentence boomed out and the spirits settled into Durza.

Galbatorix knew better than to stop chanting though. Carsaib would need to harness the spirits and subjugate them before he would be safe.

Durza trembled and thrashed as the mortal man and the spirits fought for control. Just when it seemed like Carsaib wouldn't be up to the task, his limbs stilled and he sat up, looking directly at Galbatorix. He recited a quick line in the ancient language, which alleviated Galbatorix's concerns. Shades controlled by the spirits avoided the ancient language as a rule.

Galbatorix switched languages. "Now Carsaib, it is time to force the allegiance of these fools. Restrain the violent one. I like him."

Durza grinned, showing his wickedly pointed teeth.

"My pleasure."

 **DUN, DUN, DUN! Now Galbatorix has some resources. To tally it all up, he has Durza, two Ra'zac, a large amount of Seithr oil, an Eldunari, Hefnd the Drakon, Antaeus, Octavian, Bryce Lawrence, and Tantalus. All in all, it's looking bad.**

 **Skolir is the Eldunari btw.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: The Egg

 **A/N: I'm sorry for how short the previous chapter was. This one will be some of the good things, I promise you that.**

 **ON TO THE STORY!**

Arya shushed everyone, and spoke Will.

"You'd best come inside."

As they wound through various halls, she called over her shoulder,

"I assume Oromis told you a bit about our history?"

"Yes," Nico called back.

They went past a chamber filled with large round stones of varying colors. Nico lagged behind the group to look at them. Several of these odd stones seemed to follow similar color schemes, however one of them caught Nico's eye.

It was mostly black, but it also had golden streaks crisscrossing every which way. It seemed quite beautiful to Nico and he reached out to set his hand on the side of it. When he did, Nico realized that it was an egg: he could feel the soul of the baby inside.

Nico quickly looked around himself realizing that all of these stones were eggs. Nico backed slowly out of the room, hoping that he would not dame any of the eggs.

"Nico!" shouted will from the end of the hall. "Come on!"

Nico ran to join them on a large balcony over looking the entire area around the castle.

He looked as the big red dragon lay in what appeared to be slumber, while the other two thoroughly examined each other.

Nico brought his attention to the conversation, which appeared to be mostly conducted between Marco and the three riders, comparing notes about the atrocities of the villains. He didn't understand most of it. There was plenty of odd names and colors to go along with them.

Nico did notice that they refused to mention certain evil dragons in their narrative by name, instead calling them by their rider's names, like "Morzan's dragon" or "Kialandi's purple." Nico was curious, so he asked.

The Rider's expressions grew grimmer than they already were.

"The dragons were so furious when they found out that the Forsworn's dragons had betrayed them, that they banished their names. No one knows what they were called anymore," said Eragon.

Nico looked around and noticed something odd down the hall. Something was opening the door that the eggs had been in.

Nico looked around. No one had noticed. He was tempted to go investigate alone, but he had no clue what it was.

"Hey." Nico said, gesturing to the opening door. Everyone watched silently as the black and gold egg rolled out of it. Everyone stood and rushed to where it was. Eragon looked at it in amazement.

"The egg is hatching."

The baby dragon that had been encased in the egg slowly pushed its way out, shattering the egg in the process. Nico thought that it was a beautiful creature, almost the size of a small dog.

It extended its wings, revealing that it was almost all black, like its egg, except for where it turned gold on the creature's underbelly. It slowly shuffled towards Nico, looking at him with eyes of a beautiful silver.

Nico carefully touched the dragon's head. His hand was instantly filled with a tremendous pain, and every single scar on his body hurt like it had reopened. A shock of ice-cold energy shot from his palm to his mind and whirled there for a moment, before all of the sensations suddenly stopped, and Nico was left looking at his little dragon.

And then, Nico felt another mind touch his, filled with hunger, but also with a strange excitement.

"It's excited," Nico said, in complete and utter shock.

Eragon cocked his head, as if listening to something.

"It's no surprise. That's the oldest hatchling of the lot, almost as old as Glaedr himself."

Nico didn't know what Eragon was talking about, but he was filled with satisfaction, and an odd desire to provide everything this little dragon wanted. He tentatively tried to reach the dragon, stiffening when he did so. It was female, he could tell that much.

Nico, turning his attention to himself as Eragon, Arya and Murtagh all rushed off for unknown reasons, he found his health much improved. He would never admit it to Will, or anyone else for that matter, that Nico could feel the darkness pervading his very life force since the Athena Parthenos.

Now all of that was gone, leaving Nico feeling a whole lot more grounded than he had since Bianca's death. Speaking of Bianca…

"I want to name her Bianca."

The three dragon riders rushed back with handfuls of meat and gave them to Nico. Bianca was excited to see the meat and chirped happily, which Nico hadn't expected. Weren't they supposed to roar or something?

Nico began to feed his dragon, who happily snatched it up and ate it like it was the last meal on earth. Seeing as it had never eaten before, Nico supposed it was accurate.

When the dragon had finished eating, Nico noticed that on his hand, where he had touched the dragon, his palm had a silver, diffuse oval upon it. Nico began petting the dragon, finally looking around at his fellow demigods.

Marco was in complete and utter shock, and so was Will, but Will also looked admiring.

Reyna had actually fainted, which Nico made plans to tease her about later.

Christine, on the other hand, was the only one to not look pleased. In fact, she looked infuriated that Nico dared to get something cool like a dragon hatchling.

Later that day, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Reyna, Christine, and Marco all were upset that Nico had bound himself to Alagaesia, while Will of course defended his boyfriend.

Eragon and Arya were sort of in the middle, declaring that while they didn't like it either, there was nothing they could do to prevent it, seeing as it was specifically stated in the spells that the eggs destined for Riders would _only_ hatch for the person destined to be their Rider.

Everyone bristled at the other groups, and all in all, it was both a good and a bad thing that a man raced into the room.

"Eragon Kingkiller, sir!"

Eragon winced at the gruesome nickname.

"Yes?"

"Darian Tabor of Dras-Leona has sent me to tell you that there has been strange fluxes of energy around Helgrind that the mages have been panicking over. They say something about sorcery and huge shocks of energy."

 **O cliffhangers, o cliffhangers,**

 **I am so mean to my readers,**

 **What will happen next?**

 **You just wait and see,**

 **O all the possibilities of twenty-eighteen!**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Hiding Outside Helgrind Again

 **Hello, hello, hello, my lovely readers! I'm so sorry for the long wait, midterms plus another fanfic I'm writing, then writer's block, and it's just been hectic. In any case, I hope you liked that little poem I put at the end of the last chapter. It was a really spur of the moment thing.**

 **Now to answer Reviews: Zekrom10101010 I did realize that the eggs could be in their shells for too long, but it was specifically stated that the Vault of souls had lied undisturbed for hundreds of years and commented that the eggs would be in trouble for a few-thousand-year-long wait. I feel like that would definitely give me a long time-frame to work with. Thanks for pointing out that it's a bit unrealistic though.**

 **NOW ONTO THE STORY!**

Eragon, Arya, Murtagh, and the five demigods crouched just below the crest of a hill just outside of Helgrind. Eragon grimaced at the irony.

"Seems like only a couple of months ago that I was hunting down the Ra'zac and the Lethrblaka in this mountain."

Murtagh stared up at it.

"I have this weird feeling. Almost one of… familiarity."

The other Riders agreed. Will and Nico seemed to be getting an entirely different vibe.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Will said, "but I get the distinct impression of Death."

Nico agreed and added, "There's also this undeniably mythological feeling."

All the demigods nodded.

Wilbur was the first to suggest what everyone else was thinking.

"You think we found King Galbatorix's lair?"

A rich, chocolatey voice from behind them said, "You certainly did."

A man with wine-red hair and maroon eyes stood there, along with Bryce Lawrence, who Reyna noticed through her shudders that while he had the same cruel expression, his eyes were somehow distracted. He toyed with a knife, seemingly deferring to the man.

Reyna turned to look at the Riders, who had all turned as white as she felt. Eragon spoke shudderingly.

"D-D-Durza."

Bryce laughed mockingly. "Does the big, bad dragon rider have nothing to say?" he jeered in a baby voice.

Reyna glanced over at Wilbur and Christine. Her legionnaire was ready to give a smackdown on Bryce and his friend, but Reyna caught her eye and shook her head ever so slightly. She didn't know if demigod weapons would work on humans here. Wilbur had come up with the theory that seeing as Eragon was bonded to a dragon, he was both a regular mortal and not a regular one, so it worked exactly like steel on a mortal.

Nico however, still had his stygian iron sword. He leaped forward and stabbed Durza in his arm. The creature screamed as his life force both dwindled and attempted to restoke itself, and he dissolved into mist. Bryce tried to stab Nico, and narrowly succeeded, but Bianca swooped down out of nowhere and attacked Bryce.

Nico extended his right arm, and his gedway ignasia glowed an extremely dark purple as he summoned several skeletons of small lizards and tiny rodents to leap upon Bryce and pin him. Nico didn't even stumble as Will rushed forward and stabbed the traitorous demigod.

"Didn't I say, 'no Underworld-y stuff'?"

"I don't even feel slightly tired. Even before my little world trip, I would have been exhausted after summoning so many. I don't get it."

Eragon stepped forward. "You know, I've never seen a gedway ignasia glow like that."

He extended his palm and muttered a couple of words. His palm glowed a silver color as a pebble floated upwards.

"Huh. Nice," Nico said.

"But I do know that a dragon does strengthen its rider's magic. I don't know about your funny Greek things, but if it's magic, it's probably affected."

Bianca flapped up to Nico's shoulder, and sent an image suggesting satisfaction at Bryce's death.

"Are young dragons particularly bloodthirsty."

"No." Arya said, "Highly protective, but not bloodthirsty. Why?"

"Bianca likes the fact that Bryce is dead."

"He tried to kill you. Seems natural to me."

"Guys!" Wilbur said. "If the king set up this ambush, he must know we're here."

"Oh no." said Murtagh, "I never thought of that."

 **Sorry this chapter's a bit short. I promise you readers I'll get a longer one up by next Thursday. As always, please read and review. I consider all ideas, and if I don't use yours, I'll tell you why.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Battle of Helgrind

 **Wow I feel like such an a**hole. I promised I'd get a new chapter up really soon and now it's f***ing March. Right so this is NOT the final battle in any capacity, so don't go thinking it is.**

 **To answer reviews: tip of the hat to you swordia, glad you like it that much.**

 **Oh, it came to my attention recently that lines don't copy form Word docs, so I'm going to be using [_] to signify shifts in time and/or place.**

 **Right, now let's get into the battle.**

Galbatorix was fuming. That boy with the dark sword had killed Carsaib. He had just gotten him back and that boy had killed him! Galbatorix swore an oath in the Ancient Language then and there that he would kill the boy if it was the last thing he did.

Galbatorix turned to the rest of the cave and called,

"Octavian!"

He appeared instantly.

"Yes, my liege?"

"Open the portals to Tartarus. We will destroy these demigods."

Octavian showed fear, but he bowed and went about his task.

"Tantalus!"

Tantalus came faster than Octavian.

"Are your spirit soldiers ready?"

"Two more phalanxes worth have just arrived, equipped with the spells your caster gave me."

"Good. We march in one hour. Be ready."

[_]

Nico settled into his position between Will and Reyna. Several skeletal fighters stood at the ready. They felt unfamiliar to Nico, which made sense seeing as they were a strange mix of Greek and Alagaesian.

Reyna looked dramatically off into the middle distance in a way which always irritated Nico.

"Let's hope the gods are on our side."

Nico rolled his eyes and summoned more skeletons. Eragon and Arya had given him a crash course in Alagaesian magic, which seemed to focus mostly on life and growth. How ironic.

Bianca sat on Nico's shoulder, fanning her wings. Nico was slightly wary of those claws. He had seen her remorselessly kill someone, and it didn't feel right, despite what Arya said. Will readied his stock of medical supplies, which were painfully lacking in Alagaesia. They had never seen gauze before, let alone Band-Aids.

Marco was up at the front planning out various movements with a hand selected set of skeletons, which he had outfitted with Celestial Bronze. He judged that the Rider's brightsteel may suffice, seeing as it wasn't regular metal.

Nico was practicing shadow travel when a horn sounded and sweeping out of a huge hole that had suddenly appeared in the base of the mountain were several dozen Laistrygonians followed by a man dressed entirely in black riding a muddy brown drakon.

They charged up the field at the comparatively pitiful line of skeletons. Most of them were swept aside. Suddenly, three dragons flew straight into the air. The blue one and the red one flew near each other and blasted the Laistrygonians with fire. The green one flew over to the entrance to the cave which several dozen telkhines were pouring out of.

The green dragon bathed them in fire as Arya on his back chanted in that odd language of theirs and collapsed the cave entrance.

Nico kept summoning skeletons to join the fray, as Reyna and Marco fought side by side with one of the telkhines.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Nico noticed several ghostly figures streaming through the rocks. They were dressed in Greek battle armor. Nico found the armor style familiar and he racked his brains trying to remember as the elite skeletons started moving over that way.

Suddenly the style came to him. The city-state of Sipylus had that design. Which meant…

[_]

Tantalus stood inside the cave, watching his soldiers begin to carve through the skeletons. He had been ordered to fight along with them, but that was something he didn't like to do. He felt that he was technically fighting by directing them from afar, so they didn't fall into chaos.

Tantalus grinned as he remembered the spells which would render that Nico boy's power over the undead useless in their case.

[_]

Nico instantly tried to dispel them all, but he felt like he was trying to hold onto a slippery glass ball. He couldn't. Nico grabbed Reyna as she tried to run past him.

"Those are Tantalus's soldiers!" he yelled, "I can't get rid of them!"

Reyna paled, but she nodded. She took her sword and charged them right alongside that wolf-elf Nico had tried to kill.

Nico sighed as he summoned more skeletons and started to shadow travel into enemy lines for quick ambushes. It was going to be a long battle.

[_]

Eragon looked down at the battle from on Saphira's back. Over the past hour it had slowly gotten closer and closer to Dras-Leona and some of the residents were looking out at the strange and fierce battle. Several odd black dogs and one-eyed giants were now surrounding Galbatorix.

He looked around at the field an- wait was that a Shrrg?

Saphira heard that thought and swooped down to burn a line of the one-eyed giants, but Galbatorix shot a burst of energy at Saphira. She had to spiral away, but Eragon had already made out that the Shrrg was just Blodhgarm.

 _Arya wants to know why Galbatorix is not mentally attacking us,_ Saphira said.

"I've been wondering that myself," Eragon replied.

[_]

Nico was conscious of a sudden pain. A tendril of thought twisting in his mind. Bianca shrieked and Nico felt her mentally attacking wherever the thoughts were coming from. Nico panicked as the tendril began rifling through his memories, and instantly triggered his memories of Tartarus which were fresh and vivid.

Nico collapsed, luckily near Will, but he had the satisfaction of felling the tendril withdraw and he felt the shock from the other side.

[_]

Will looked down at the screaming Italian. His anguish seemed to have an effect on all of the nearby enemies and was causing his powers to go wild. Every single enemy nearby was either sobbing uncontrollably or was being consumed by the darkness.

Suddenly, the enemy began to retreat. Will wasn't sure why, but they began running to the north-east.

The battle was over.

 **Right so that was interesting to write. Again this is by no means the end, so expect more pretty soon.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: The King's Plan and a Talk About Shadows

 **A/N I have no words for how strange it feels to be taking this fic up again after such a long hiatus. I'm not going to offer you any explanations, because you probably don't care about them. You probably just want me to start writing, so you can savor this story. Well here you go! Have fun reading this.**

 **Disclaimer: I am clearly not Rick Riordan or Christopher Paolini because if I was somehow both of them at the same time, I'd not only be immensely rich and famous, but you'd have to be paying for this.**

Galbatorix had never felt such darkness in someone. He had felt despair from that foolish Rider's silly spell. He had felt darkness when he examined the minds of those he had broken. But this raw fury and pain was of the likes he had never seen before.

It had caused a mental backlash so powerful that he had retreated into his mind. Even the power of Skolir and Hefnd was not enough to break into his mind. The fact that he of all people could get a hatchling infuriated Galbatorix.

He determined that when he killed the boy that he would take the black and gold dragon. From the glimpse he had gotten of her mind, she was quite strange, filled with anger and bloodlust.

For now, he was going to build up his forces and face other matters. Octavian and Tantalus awaited his attention.

The ghostly king came up to him. He seemed like he was in a state of mild shock. When Galbatorix had managed to awaken the boy Nico's memories of Tartarus, his powers had gone wild, and he had filled all of the ghosts on the battlefield with darkness and the memories of the place.

"Did I not tell you to fight alongside the spirits?"

"Y-y-yes my liege."

"Did you?"

"No."

"I do not tolerate those who disobey me Tantalus."

Galbatorix then spoke Tantalus's true name. He shivered and said,

"I will fight with my men next time."

"Good. Now go and find Octavian and bring him to me."

Galbatorix surveyed the cavern as Tantalus bowed and scurried off. Now there was a large throne which the king sat upon. Across the room, he could see the strange sea creatures called telkhines forging swords out of a mix of steel and the metal they called Celestial Bronze. Nearby, a large Cyclops was taking finished swords and adding Seithr oil to them.

Several snake women were practicing dueling with some of Tantalus's ghosts. Most of his spirits had to be dismissed after the Nico boy's mind had left them crippled. At the other end of the cavern where huge openings carved into the rock that various creatures would pour out of. Octavian assured Galbatorix that they led directly into the pit of Tartarus. How he had done it, Galbatorix didn't care. He only cared that they would stay open and provide him with troops that would never truly die.

Octavian came around the corner, his purple robes and golden jewelry making him easy to spot.

Out of breath, the pale blonde boy spoke,

"You wanted to see me my liege?"

"I did," Galbatorix said, "I wanted to know a few things. I want an update on the progress you are making on my army."

"We have gotten several hundred coming through every hour. Soon, their pitiful group won't stand a shadow of a chance. We've gotten several useful assets, including some empousai, who have the ability to entrance people with their voice. Some of the elder telkhines have even managed to burst through and are now organizing the lesser ones."

"The telkhines are in fact the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. In my final battle before my death, my sword was lost and I did not take it with me to the Underworld. I want them to make me a sword, and use Skolir in the hilt."

"The eldunari?"

"Yes are you deaf? Talk to them, have them send me their finest workers. When we destroy these pitiful demigods, I will ride out myself."

[_]

Nico watched Eragon as he practiced magic. Bianca sat on his shoulder peeping happily. The Rider caused a large rock to rotate at immense speed. The great blue dragon Saphira lay in a patch of sunlight next to the green one of Arya.

Nico suddenly felt a pressure on his mind, which made him panic for a moment, until he realized it was Saphira.

 _Death Child, you seem troubled. What is the problem?_ she asked in her raspy dragon's voice.

 _All this magic is very new to me,_ he thought at her, _I only know how to summon the undead and instant travel._

 _You can travel instantly?_

 _Yeah, I did it a few times in the battle. I travel from shadow to shadow. The problem is that it becomes harder to do the more that comes with._

 _Still it sounds useful. Is it as tiring as our spell?_

 _Do you have a similar spell?_

 _Yes. It can travel anything instantly, but according to Oromis something as large as a dragon's egg would leave you too tired to move._

 _It's not like that, but shadow travel on my own required me to sleep for a while. It's a lot easier now that I have Bianca to help me though._

Nico wondered to himself if he could use a spell to make something like a door through the shadows.

 _A door would certainly be useful._

 _I forgot you were still listening._

Eragon had finally taken notice of Saphira and Nico's conversation. He tilted his head as he listened to Saphira describe what had taken place.

"What does this shadow-travel entail?"

"I dissolve into shadows. Since all shadows are technically one and the same, I can instantly be anywhere there is a shadow. It's more useful around the mountain, since it lays such a huge shadow."

"I think the elves and I can think up a spell for a shadow door to get ourselves some reinforcements. Hopefully I can talk Roran into coming our way."

 **Hopefully you liked this chapter! Sorry it took so long to write. I hope you liked it. Oh, and sorry about the last chapter being all coding. It's something weird with the copy-paste that I keep forgetting to check before I post a new chapter. It should be fixed now.**

 **If you liked this, pop any reviews you want right onto this story and let me know.**

 **See you soon!**

 **-LordofNothing1**


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